New Technics 1200 Turntables Will Cost a Whopping $4,000

Last year, Technics announced it would return to the business of making turntables and revealed its classic SL-1200 model was back in production. Now, more details have emerged, and it will cost you a pretty penny to get your hands on one.

According to What the Hi-Fi?, the new Technics 1200Gs -- both the magnesium-tone-arm limited anniversary edition SL-12000GAE and the aluminum-tone-arm SL-1200G -- will set you back roughly $4,000. When Technics discontinued the turntable in 2008, they cost approximately $700.

Technics CTO Tetsuya Itani attributed the hefty price point to the turntables being completely new save the dustcovers:

We began to study just a few months prior to IFA, maybe summer 2014, for the new SL-1200. We learned that it was impossible [to make the same deck], as almost all the tools for manufacturing were gone or heavily damaged – only one “die” remained, and that was for the dust cover.

All the documents were kept, all the drafts… but it was not the Technics way. If we have a chance to start from scratch, we should. With new technology, new theory – that is this guy [the SL-1200G]. So it’s a new model from scratch.

Everything is new… except for the dust cover. The weight of the platter is nearly 3 times the old ‘1200, and we also have a new motor, which is a very important point of the new model. The feet too. It’s heavy, the old 1200 was more plastic.

The new turntables are expected sometime this summer (see a list of specs and promo video below). The good news: Technics intends to make a more affordable model, but a production timeline is far from set in stone: “But not definitely right now,” Itani said. “We need to study.”